I learned a great deal in graduate school which for priests is called seminary. Upon graduation, my class pondered how much of what we learned would come in handy in ministry. Currently, I’d say it hovers around 23%. Although a very important percentage, it’s not near the 100% we had hoped for. The percentage increased slightly this week because on Sunday, we get a reading from the Book of Esther. And so, I get to use a seminary phrase I thought would never see the light of day, "non-interventionist objective special divine action." Or, to get rid of the seminary lingo, “How, when and why does God work?”The Book of Esther doesn’t mention God. There are no ceremonial rites or Jewish customs, nothing from Levitical law, no special dietary restrictions or any sort of prayers. It is a story about the release of the exiled Jewish people. Esther, a woman of Jewish descent, becomes queen. When the King asks what he can do for her, she asks for the release of her people. This has caused some to ponder if God has a particular non-interventionist objective – or, does God simply wait to work through God’s people. Was God waiting for someone like Esther to rise to power and instead of seeking selfish gain work for the benefit of her people or, was God’s invisible, and unmentioned, hand working the whole time.

The science community has pondered the question of special divine action. The quantum physics community has considered if miracles (unexplainable events that happen on a quantum level) that appear to be non-interventionist because what happens is so small are in fact, directed by divine action.

The theological community has pondered the effectiveness of prayer. If God is simply waiting for people to do-the-right-thing, then what effect does prayer have? Some believe that prayer affects and effects the one who prays and God simply waits to intervene. For instance, if everyone in the whole wide world, and I mean everyone, prayed for peace, would it happen? And, if we all did that, is that a part of God’s noninterventionist approach to divine action? In other words, is it God’s plan for everyone to pray for peace at which point it will happen? We might want to call the result “the Esther effect.”

Now that I’ve been out of the seminary community for eight years, the answer to how/when/why does God work seems even more obscure. We have a monthly healing service. At that service, people get prayed for – some by intersession some by direct laying on of hands – and healing occurs. The intercessory prayers (praying for someone who is not present in the group) are especially astounding. Many non-present recipients have noted that at the very time we are praying for them something happened. And sometimes, the healing we pray for actually happens. Some healings have surprised medical doctors. What we prayed for may have happened on a molecular/quantum level; like it is so small that it looks as though God didn’t do anything.

What doesn’t seem obscure is this: we are called to pray. Whether it changes only the one praying, or whether God does divine intervention, or practices “noninterventionist objective special divine actions,” or all three, we are called to obedience in prayer. Even though the Book of Esther doesn’t name God, or mention anything at all about prayer, God’s name is praised for the redeeming works that happened in the book and in history. And maybe the end result of seminary education, prayer, and even quantum physics is this, praise of God. -Fr. Marshall

The virtue for this month at our school is determination. When our religion team came up with this lead off virtue, we wondered if it was too secular. We pondered how determination fits into a religious studies program.

First and foremost, one is not born into Christianity; The Way requires a choice. I had a Jewish friend in High School. She didn’t choose the faith but was born into it. Her choice, however, was to practice and live out that faith, or not. So the virtue of determination was as important to help her live faithfully as it is to my choice to serve God.

Many around the world celebrated St. Mary’s birthday this past Tuesday. Happy Birthday Mary! When I think of displaying the virtue of determination, I think of Mary.

I can think of five marks of determination: sticking with something until it is finished, asking for help, believing what you are doing is important, setting goals, and resisting distractions. Mary listened to what the angel Gabriel said about how God chose her to give birth to the Messiah. She pondered those things and after discerning it said, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be with me, according to your word.”

Imagine what it would be like for her – an unmarried 14 or 15 year old Jewish girl living in occupied Palestine in the first century. It is difficult enough for an unmarried pregnant teenager in our day and time but the difficulties Mary faced were far harsher. Joseph, the man to whom she was engaged, had the option to stone her to death (to save his name from shame) or to break the engagement. An angel spoke to him in a dream and said to stick with Mary.

Mary’s story goes far and beyond the pregnancy and birth. We have a rare opportunity in the Bible to follow a female from her teenage years until she is at least 45. She stuck with what the angel had told her. She was present at Jesus’ trial. She watched him die on the cross and held his dead body in her arms. She participated in placing him in the tomb and then waited from Friday night until Sunday morning to finish the burial proceedings, preempted because of the Sabbath. She witnessed his resurrection and, according to some, saw Jesus ascend into heaven.

She stuck with the plan. She was determined. Mary had a goal, to let it be with her as to God’s plan. She believed in what she was doing. I believe she must have prayed for help. And, she resisted becoming discouraged. They didn’t have social media back in her day, but they certainly had a social gossip system. Everyone knew she was pregnant and not married. Was Mary teased, bullied, and cut off from her friends? I imagine she was. And, let us remember that when Joseph went back to his hometown, there was no room at the inn, which, in my mind says, Joseph’s family didn’t want him to stay with them. Yet, despite all that, Mary was not distracted, she was determined.

Mary is many things to many different people. To me, she is an excellent example of living a faithful life. I venerate Mary, which means I regard her with utmost respect and honor, because of who she is and how she chose to live her life.

Each Sunday during the month of September, we are going to hear from the Letter of James. It is a strange letter. Sandwiched between the letters attributed to St. Paul and the Letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament, James combines Jewish thought with a black and white approach to life in Christ. It both condemns and uplifts. There appear to be no general theme, intended audience, connection with the audience (unlike saints Paul and Peter who directly and personally connect with their hearers) or application to a particular time and place. Some call it a paraenesis – device and exhortation to continue in a certain way of life – that reads like a diatribe. On the positive side, because it has no specific audience and is removed from any place and time, it reads like it might have been written last week with many useful applications to our modern lives.

Many have asked throughout the centuries, who is the author? Three men named James are mentioned in the Gospels. There is the Apostle James who is the brother of Andrew and son of Zebedee, the second James is the obscure “James the less,” and lastly is James, the brother of Jesus. Century after century, theologians continue to assert that the author is one of the four brothers of Jesus mentioned in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew. The brothers seem reluctant, at best, to accept Jesus as the messiah. In fact one story shows they went to “seize” Jesus because he was “out of his mind”; the only thing that stopped them was that they could not enter the house because there were so many people. It was in that house that the well-known story takes place of the paraplegic man who was lowered down through the roof. St. Paul writes that when Jesus made his many resurrection appearances, he met with James alone. Many, including me, believe this post-crucifixion visit was the turning of James’ heart to Jesus as Lord.

After Jesus’ ascension, his brother James became a major figure in the early Christian church. He presided over a bi-lingual Greek/Hebrew congregation in Jerusalem. And, he was the pastor of both gentile and Jewish converts to the faith of Christ. In this setting, James writes about how to live and worship together. He writes, “Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.” (1:19) I wonder if James wrote this because Jesus said, “A prophet is not recognized by his own kin,” which seems to be a comment made directly at him. (Mark 6:4) It appears those were times when James was quick to speak in anger. Later on, after rising from the dead, Jesus was able to speak to his brother one-on-one. I imagine then James was quick to listen and worked past his disbelief and anger.

Do you know someone who is quick to listen? I had such a person on my discernment committee in my home church. She would listen to me and to what everyone else had to say. Before she spoke, she’d take a moment, long enough to breathe in and out. I never saw her angry. Her listening produced righteousness.

Imagine how different our American culture would be if all Christians followed James’ example of being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. I imagine that is the world as Jesus wants it – one that is slow to anger and always willing to listen. -Fr. Marshall